2024 Best Sights Around Ireland
Malahide Castle
Intro
“It is full summer now, the heart of June;
Not yet the sunburnt reapers are astir
Upon the upland meadow where too soon
Rich autumn time, the season’s usurer,
Will lend his hoarded gold to all the trees,
And see his treasure scattered by the wild and spendthrift breeze.”
~ The Garden of Eros by Oscar Wild ~
Maybe the most famous Irish writer, Oscar Wilde often interjected the Emerald Isle’s landscape into his work from the rolling green meadows to the turning of the season’s, his eye caught everything Ireland had to give. The landscape draws people to the country and the hospitality keeps them coming back for more.
Temple Bar - Dublin, Ireland
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In my family tree there is a lot of Irish ancestry on both sides of my family, so I have always been drawn to the culture and country with the amazing Irish music and all of its natural beauty. After I graduated from college and had some freedom, my first call to order was a trip to the Republic of Ireland.
My dad's side of the family came from Mayo County, Ireland and my mom had some family from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I grew up with my grandmother (who was born in New York) putting on her Mother's Irish accent, which always made me giggle. So naturally when I had to talk about my ancestry and bring in a dish of the culture, I thought I would pick Ireland. Unfortunately, I came from a very Irish community and my teacher told me I couldn't pick that. As a 10-year-old, stumped as to what to do as that was my ancestry, my mom had to look way back in our family tree and found a smidgen of Polish. My last name is McHugh, I should have been able to cover Ireland. But I digress.
I didn’t know as much about the country or the Irish history other than some of the highlights like the Book of Kells at Trinity College, the Dublin Castle, Guinness Storehouse, the Temple Bar, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Stephen’s Green, and the Cliffs of Moher. During my first trip to Ireland, I wouldn’t be leaving Dublin so the latter was taken off my best Ireland itinerary I compiled before my departure.
When I graduated from college, I was lost. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, who I wanted to become, where I wanted to go. All I knew was for the first time I needed something different.
During college I had always wanted to live a semester abroad but had only done two short winter inter-sessions, so I decided to sign up for an acting course in Dublin, Ireland. I gravitated to Ireland and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to spend time there as well as do some easy travel around Europe.
Weeks before the class started, after finalizing my flights and travel arrangements; I found out the course was cancelled. At 22-years-old, I had a lack of experience and crisis management skills, so I had no idea what to do. When confiding in a friend, she said it sounded like I had 2 options:
1) Eat the cost of the flights.
OR
2) Take the money I would have used for the class and travel around Europe.
It didn’t dawn on me that number 2 was an option, still in a child’s mindset of having to ask permission for everything even though I was in my 20’s and graduated college. So, I decided option 2 was the route for me. I took the next few weeks talking to people who had been to Europe before and looked up places I wanted to go online. I planned out a 2-month trip covering 11 countries and 14 cities as well as hotel and travel to each location. The hidden rebel in me wanted to leave a little room for spontaneity, so I left each day’s activities up to how I felt in the moment.
My first stop was Dublin, Ireland. I was spending 5 days there and I was so excited. Still not great at planning and researching; I wound up booking a hotel in Malahide, which is not in the City Center but a small town about 30 minutes outside of Dublin. I thought I may have needed a rental car but the taxi driver from the airport said the best way to get back to the city center was by taking public transportation. The hotel wound up being beautiful and it was a cute coastal town, so it wasn’t a complete hardship.
I took a redeye from NYC and got into the hotel around 6am, well before the hotel was checking in guests or anything in the town was open. Much of my first day was spent with other guests waiting in the lobby for our rooms to be ready, too exhausted to move. After a while a bunch of us were hungry, tired of waiting and spending too much time staring off into space. We took that as a good reason to take a short walk, in search of breakfast. Three of us went to this little café down the road for a quick bite to eat. The lady and gentleman (not together), were in their 40’s. Now looking back on it, I wonder how they felt about the naïve, wide-eyed 22-year-old in toe. The gentleman was so kind and treated us to breakfast before we headed back to check-in at the hotel.
While I loved the adventure and seeing new things, I had never been alone before and hated the thought of it. The first full day in Dublin I went down to the hotel restaurant and the gentleman from the day before was there and joined me for breakfast. It was nice sharing a meal with someone and getting to know him. We discussed that both of us were headed into the city center, so we decided to tour around a bit together.
A moment that sticks out to me 16 years later. While walking to the metro and idly talking, we passed a homeless man sitting on the street corner. He asked us for money and neither of us said anything. When he noticed we were just passing by, he yelled out an anti-Muslim slur to the person I was with. The gentleman I was with was from Saudi Arabia. He was friendly, respectful, interesting and a generous individual. The homeless man didn’t see that, even though that is all that should have mattered. The homeless man did not seem to be bothered that I did not offer him any money either. Possibly because I looked like I fit in there, possibly because I am a woman, possibly for a whole other reason I am not aware of.
Every time I think of this story, I feel bad that I didn’t say something to the homeless man or at least to the gentleman I was with. We walked in silence for a moment and then continued our conversation on the way to the metro. I was 22 and didn’t know how to respond, I didn’t know how to make this ignorant comment better. I am not even sure if I would say the right thing now, but I like to think I would at least try.
This moment did not change my opinion on him though, we still connected a couple more times before our departure from Dublin. On the last evening we grabbed coffee and talked. He told me about his family, Saudi Arabia and about the Muslim religion. I find it very interesting to hear about other people’s story, especially ones different from my own. My thought is, why travel if you are not open to learning about people, customs and cultures that make the experience so much more interesting. That is the best part of the journey.
First Trip to Dublin
During my 6-day, 5-night stay in Dublin, I fell in love with the county and culture. I didn’t hire a private tour guide or anything, I just got on one of those Hop On/Hop Off busses my second full day in the city, to get a lay of the land. This tour drove me past some of my favorite places I visited in the city.
After a full loop on the bus tour, I walked around Trinity College and Merrion Square. When you let me loose on my own, there’s a large chance I will get lost…which is what happened, and I wound up in Temple Bar. I took that as a cue to sit down in one of these said bars and try and figure out how to get un-lost. After one rum and coke later, the bartender found it hilarious that I came in to ask for directions and then just wound-up day drinking. I was 22 years old, what did he expect.
When I was back on my way in the right direction, I made it back to the Merrion Square area and spent some more time enjoying St. Stephen’s Green.
My next day in Ireland, I started the morning walking around the grounds of Malahide Castle and exploring the coastal town of Malahide.
I really had such a great time, even though I was traveling by myself. I felt the 6-days was enough time to scrape away a lot of the city. Luckily, I had extra time in Dublin when we went back to Ireland with my family to tour the city as well as other parts of Ireland.
Second Tour of Ireland
In 2011 for my dad’s birthday, we took a two-week tour around Ireland. We flew direct from Newark Airport to the Dublin Airport and stayed at the Westin in downtown Dublin.
I knew from previous experiences traveling on a red eye from the US to Europe that it would be best if I did not sleep when I got to Europe early in the morning and just get on the sleep patterns of the country I am visiting. The first day will be difficult but it’s a lot better than several days of not sleeping at the right time.
Day 1, we toured around Trinity College, Temple Bar, St. Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square. When my family went back to the hotel to nap, I just kept walking around the city center until it was time for us to get ready to go to dinner and a show of traditional Gaelic dancers.
I had been to the Guinness Factory on my trip before to Dublin four years prior. It was fun going around with my family and then hanging out on the top floor with a 360 view of the city while sipping on a pint of Guinness. At the Jameson Distillery, when we were touring, the Distillery gave everyone a tasting at the end of the tour. They did also pick a few people to do a tasting of 5 different whiskies. At the beginning of the tour, they asked if anyone would be interested in participating in this tasting and of course my little hand was the first one raised. My family looked at me like I was a heathen drinking 5 shots at 10:30 AM, but I said that was on them for taking me to a distillery at 10:30 AM. Realistically speaking, I cannot take five shots in a row and still be sane, so I had my dad come over and gave him part of each shot. Afterwards I said I didn’t see him complaining when he was included in the tasting.
Some of the highlights from my second trip to Ireland were the Guinness Factory and Jameson Distillery with my family, taking a tour of the Kilmainham Gaol, kissing the Blarney Stone (even though my luck never improved, and just taking in the beautiful landscape around the country.
We spent two nights in Dublin and then were off with our rental car to Kilkenny, Cork, Kerry, Killarney, Galway, and Clare.
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The currency used in Ireland is the Euro.
Ireland is referenced as the Emerald Isle.
Population of just under 5 million people.
Dublin is the largest city in Ireland and the Capital.
The first settlement in Ireland is thought to be around 6000 B.C.
Northern Ireland (including the city of Belfast) is part of the U.K.
Some fun facts found on by National Geographic Kids.
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When I travel, I tend to visit major cities. I usually feel more comfortable in cities when traveling solo than going to more remote areas. Also, major cities tend to be easier to travel in and out of, as well as a quick walk or short drive to more sights in a smaller proximity.
One thing I never do when traveling abroad is get a rental car. It is usually easy enough to get around major cities via walking or public transit. Plus, in Europe there are many narrow roads that make it more intimidating to drive around. If I do decide to go to the countryside, I’d prefer to be a passenger, so I am able to just have a good time and enjoy the scenic drive. Also, I just don’t want to deal with the potential of bad weather and having to drive through that in unfamiliar places. The summer months tend to have longer days, but driving in the dark can also add another potential hurdle.
When traveling on a plane, I’ll try to get a direct flight from North America and take rideshare or public transportation the rest of the way as there is less of a likelihood of losing luggage on a direct flight. Which is what I did. I flew direct from Newark to Dublin Airport, the largest city in Ireland.
What I gained in in time, getting to Ireland early the next day (technically the second day of my trip), I lost in extreme jet lag. I thought it was a good idea to skip anything major when I got there and just took an abridged self-guided tour in the surrounding area, before catching a rugby game and some live music in the local park.
For the rest of the trip, I just looked up some attractions online beforehand, the best places to go in the city as well as relied on the hotel for their knowledge and leaflets with information on sights in the city.
* Disclaimer: this was pre-smartphones so looking up things in real-time, unless you had a desktop on hand, just wasn’t an option. I also had to carry around a digital camera and left my cellphone in the hotel safe because it wasn’t any good internationally anyway.
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We stayed at a diverse selection of hotels throughout our Ireland visit. Some based on their cost, location, or features. Below are the list of hotel stops during our time in Dublin and the rest of Ireland.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral - Dublin, Ireland
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Sights in Dublin
Sights in Kilkenny
Sights in Cork
Sights in Kerry
Sights in Galway
Trinity College - Dublin, Ireland
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I like to mention, my family and I have very different palates so thus we gravitate to very different types of cuisines and restaurants. Typically, when I travel with them, I know we will be having more meat and potatoes type options. Every now and again I try to sneak in something exotic. Mostly during our family trip to Ireland, we explore different type of pubs and continental type restaurants. One night I threatened to eat along if they didn’t join me for Thai food.
I have compiled a list of some of the most highly reviewed restaurants in Dublin Ireland. Please keep in mind that these restaurants are based on my tastes, which tend to veer toward being more eclectic and with a love of spice.
Nando’s – Portuguese Food
Yamamori – Japanese Food
Pho Viet – Vietnamese Food
Café Azteca – Mexican Food
Red Torch Ginger – Thai Food
Mykonos Taverna – Greek Food
Kimchi Hophouse – Korean Food
Dada Restaurant – Moroccan Food
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If you are anything like me, you love to travel but you also love Anthony Bourdain for all of his extreme adventures and raw honesty. Several trips I have taken in recent years, I have tried incorporating a few spots that Anthony stopped in for food. I love food and I love a diverse array of cuisine but am no expert by any means. It seems like every few days I am setting off the smoke detector when I am cooking. Being a trained chef with years in the industry is why I love incorporating Anthony’s pitstops.
Below are some places for food from Anthony Bourdain’s shows.
Conclusion
One thing I thought of when I first started traveling was, I loved the plane descending into a new city. Not just because of my excitement for the trip, but when you look at the city from a few hundred feet in the air, they all look similar. Buildings, cars, twinkling lights. Maybe if we paid more attention from that angle, we could learn to be more accepting. Step back to focus on the similarities.
Quote
Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world – Gustave Flaubert
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Guinness Factor - Dublin, Ireland